p.22 , Translated by Andrew Firestone, Melbourne, AU
p.23
In 1906 when Shmuel Yaakov Yatskan started his newspaper, Yidishes Tageblat, the twentieth century was young indeed. No one
imagined that a new world was coming, that empires would fall and new nations
arise, that times of strife and bloody slaughter were on the way… and of course
no one could foresee the Jewish catastrophe, six million Jews wiped out – and a
Jewish state in existence, offering solace and a home, to the surviving
remnant.
Yidishes Tageblat was a great
success. It cost one kopek – “a tsvayer”, and was a
big hit with the readers. But his achievement with the “Kopikenem
Bletl”, as Yatskan called it, did not satisfy him. His
restless brain was always on the look out for new challenges, broader horizons.
Yidishes Tageblat was just
the first step, a springboard to a larger, more serious project…
Yatskan mulled it
over for a while, patiently working out the details of his vision - to publish
a great Jewish newspaper. It was to be a modern newspaper, one suited to the
new world era; and Jewish, not just because Jews had written it inYiddish – but Jewish in its spirit and its thinking.
Above all Yatskan wanted the newspaper to deal with Jewish matters, in a way that
was novel to the Jewish press of the time. He wanted it to achieve more than
merely profits for its owners and a living for its contributors. Yatskan wanted
it to take its place in the Jewish community as a forum for the people, and a
mouthpiece of Jewish public opinion.
Yatskan had no
doubt that such a newspaper was needed and that the time was ripe – that the
Jewish public was ready for it. He was one of those dreamers fortunate enough
to see his fantasy come true; privileged to watch it take concrete shape - and
grow beyond all expectations.
p.24
This is described by Yeshiah
Uger (1873-1939/40?), Editor of the “Lodzer Tageblat”, in his memoir
for the Haynt Jubilee Book of
1908-1938. Uger recounts how, long before Haynt appeared, Yatskan began
planning a newspaper which was to be in close touch with Jewish life, the
Jewish street, the people: Yatskan said “The mute, those silenced for so long, must
start to speak” (p.22). Uger writes that Yatskan dreamed of a Jewish newspaper “that would educate
the public to struggle for its rights, and would inform and instruct on all
topical issues, political and economic, everything with a bearing on their
lives, on their daily concerns.” Yatskan held that “a modern Jewish newspaper has quite different functions than
instruction in astronomy and physics or Hebrew
stylistics, no matter how outstanding Sokolov’s
tractates (in HaZefirah) were.”
In 1908 when Haynt
first appeared, the Jewish masses had not yet begun to consider general political
or Jewish national questions. Their striving for self-determination was still
in swaddling clothes. Political Zionism was little more than a decade old, and
there was no organized Jewish life. In the Parliament Jewish parties were
taking their first small steps.
From its first day of publication the Haynt Collective with all its
contributors aimed to give its readers a good daily paper; to awaken the
consciousness of the people to struggle for their rights, and strengthen their
hopes for a better day, and to promote the idea of Zion.
For a short time, Yatskan had been a Territorialist
before becoming a Zionist. By the time Haynt
was founded though, much of its space was given over to Zionism. Haynt always promoted the concept of
linkage, between the struggle for equal rights in the Diaspora, and for liberty
in Erets‑Yisroyel; and taught that just one of these on its own was not attainable, nor was
it sufficient. It was the historic achievement of Haynt to be the first of the Jewish press to consciously develop
this awareness in its readers.
The new newspaper had a tough job ahead of it.
Readers stagnating in the grey confines of Russia’s Pale of Settlement and its
Polish province had to be torn away from their endless worries about where the
next meal was to come from. The newspaper had to strengthen their sense of
human worth and their pride as Jews, and to lead them beyond the Pale – to
learn Zionism, to the streets where world events were occurring. It summoned
them (first in Tsarist times and then in free Poland) to remain firm and
resolute, until the current attempt to keep them down, as second-class citizens
or worse, was overcome. These, in outline, were the ideas that Haynt promoted.
p.25
The founders of Haynt were
convinced that Jews were eager for a new, emancipated way of life, and were
eager to be drawn into the modern world. To their credit they were the first of
the Jewish press to recognize this, and they created a platform from which
Jewish rights could be demanded. They certainly had no illusions that achieving
this ambitious undertaking would be easy. On the contrary – they knew the work
would be hard, that their sole weapons would be thought, and pen and ink – and
their faith in the good sense of the people.
They fully expected all kinds of Jewish opposition: from the rich
assimilationists, from the “Poles of the Mosaic faith” of the Right, from the
Utopians of the Left. And these critics of national aspirations for the
Diaspora and Erets‑Yisroyel were strangely connected with all kind of
Chassidim and Tsaddiks; and united to oppose the new
movement for Jewish national renaissance. Though the sway of the latter over
the Jewish street was great, the founders of Haynt took up the struggle against them with the same determination
as against their non-Jewish opponents.
Who were these founders, who possessed the vision, the energy and the
strength to create a European type of newspaper, the first one Jews ever had? A
few young men from the provinces, barely into their thirties: Shmuel Yaakov Yatskan, the brothers Noah and Nehemiah Finkelstein,
Aaron Gavze and Abraham Goldberg, the latter only 27 years old. Yatskan,
Goldberg and Gavze had previously worked for Sokolov’s
HaTsefirah. Yatskan already had a reputation for sharp
polemics, writing under the pen-name of Ben-David. Goldberg wrote about issues
of the day, while Gavze reported the news. The three men could not afford to
start up a great newspaper, but were zealous in their great dream - a modern
newspaper for Jews. Others afterwards copied their example, but none equaled
their boldness or their scope.
p.26
In 1938, for the thirty year Jubilee of Haynt,
the organizing committee issued an appeal leaflet which included a survey of Haynt’s achievements in the Jewish struggle.
The leaflet underlines Haynt’s
understanding of the psychology of Polish Jews, pointing out that the public
came to appreciate and respect Haynt
for its trustworthy reporting of the troublesome issues of the day. “..In the hardgoing Jewish struggle, Haynt stood like a rock in stormy waters, with devoted
self-sacrifice steadfastly standing guard over the democratic Jewish politics
of the Diaspora and the Chalutz program for the
development of Erets‑Yisroyel. It stubbornly opposed all who sought to quell
the Jewish drive to human fulfillment and national uplift, as well as those who
wanted to mislead our people with mirages and false dreams. Now too, in these
difficult days for Jews in the world, Haynt
offers consolation and encouragement to the dark corners of Jewish life. It
supports every act of self-help, and provides Jews with moral support, through
deepening awareness of our generation’s historic mission. Thus this Jubilee
celebrates 30 loyal honorable years of Haynt’s
service to the Jewish people – a cause for celebration for the whole Jewish
national community, which can be proud that it possesses such a serious and
worthwhile platform.” (The full text of the appeal leaflet can be found in
Chapter 18).
At the time of writing, the censorship in anti-Semitic, fascist Poland was
suppressing every attempt at free expression. Care had to be taken to conceal
true meaning, which is why the leaflet is full of hints and allusions; the aim
was to protect the Jubilee book from confiscation. The public had no trouble
understanding what they were being told: our readers needed no spoon-feeding!
Let us recount then something of the contributions made by the founders of Haynt, and describe some of their
achievements.
p.27
Already with the Yidishes Tageblat, Shmuel Yaakov Yatskan (1876-1936[2])
had demonstrated his extraordinary journalistic skills, showing that he
understood the soul of the ordinary Jew better than any Jewish journalist
before him. He was the first to provide Khronik –
news of events, political, local, and above all Jewish news. His newspaper was
filled with the news of the day which, until then, had seldom reached readers
of Yiddish newspapers at all, or if it did, after considerable delay. And his
language was proste mame-loshn,
simple Yiddish, which itself was enough to win readers. He said what he thought
openly and directly, not playing at holding back. Success came at once and in
large measure – after only two months the daily sales had reached 70,000!
With Haynt too, it was Yatskan’s chief concern that
the newspaper should be comprehensible to the uneducated. He used to say that
whenever he wrote anything, whether an article or the briefest announcement, he
would keep in mind the Jews of his shtetl Vabolnik where he was born, somewhere deep in Lithuania.
Yatskan was not interested in writing solely for a select readership; to write
just for the beauty of it was not Yatskan’s way. His
ambition was to get through to ordinary Jews, and to do that he expressed
himself clearly and bluntly, even too bluntly, with a thump on the table and an
angry word – but he won the hearts of his readers. Yatskan would frequently
re-write others’ contributions, so convinced was he that only he knew how to
reach the readers. “He thinks they love his handwriting”, the editorial staff
would mutter.
There were some however, especially among the intelligentsia, who took
exception to Yatskan’s tone – the piling up
of words, the hurrying after sensation. For them Yatskanism
became a synonym for sensationalism. Yitzhak Gruenbaum (1879-1970), who was a
pillar of Haynt between the Wars,
disagreed with Yatskan’s methods and was one of his
fiercest critics.
p.28
Haynt offered plenty of scope for Yatskan’s pioneering
journalistic achievements. He understood well that a great Yiddish newspaper
had to survive in amongst the country’s other newspapers – and therefore had to
resemble them. Prior to Yatskan, writers of the Jewish press regarded news of
the day and local news as inappropriate to a “serious” Jewish newspaper.
Instead lengthy tractates were published, stuffed full of essays and Talmudic
articles. The language was ponderous, Russified
and Germanic. It was as if the authors expected that the more foreign words
they piled up, the more readers would respect them. Foreign dispatches and
local news were usually cramped into a corner somewhere. The articles were the
main thing, and writers would pride themselves on their length. (In the later,
inter-War period at Haynt, if someone
submitted too long an article we would call it an artik!)
(Trans: - the joke being, that the Yiddish word artikl,
though not an affectionate diminutive cf. mame/mamele,
does resemble one – hence a large article became an artik!)
At the time that Yatskan became
active as an Editor, his innovations seemed revolutionary. He himself would
write about “ordinary” life, and he taught others to do the same, to write
about whatever affected the readers: making a living, the hard struggle to
survive, the problems of Jewish life. In addition he taught that a Jewish
journalist had the duty to encourage the reader, to instil
optimism and national pride. Here lay the secret of his success, with his
outlook and his way of expression. His articles dealt with the matters closest
to readers’ hearts, while the writing itself was simple and understandable to
everyone – women included.
With a strong hand Yatskan lead Haynt into the ways of the new age, which came hard on the heels of the Jews in the Pale of Settlement.
Here is what the well known Warsaw journalist David Druk
(1883-1943), himself one of the strongest critics of Yatskanism
had to say, in his study “Towards a History of the Jewish Press in Russia and
Poland”: “While there was no pressure for current news, a little local news
here, a dispatch there was acceptable enough to the public. But as soon as Haynt came out with its own
correspondents’ dispatches, which really were current – and that must be
counted among the good qualities of Haynt
– Undzer Lebn began to lag
behind. [Author’s note: Undzer Lebn
began publication in Warsaw in 1907, edited by Mordechai
Spektor (1858-1925) and Zvi
Prilucki (1862-1942)]
p.29, Translated by Larry Gillig
The paper didn’t have a grasp on the spirit of the times; it didn’t recognize that the competition was growing, and didn’t take it into consideration. Not even once was note taken by the publishers, who weren’t listening. They thought that it was not so serious, and that the better course of action was to keep the money that would need to be spent in their pockets… At that time, the first rabbinical convention took place in Peterburg (today Leningrad – St. Petersburg), arousing a tremendous sensation in the Jewish community… and “Unzer Leben” did not even think it worthwhile to send an agent or appoint a correspondent to the convention. “Haynt”, on the other hand, was well represented, and with its coverage it won over the entire “Jewish Street”. (pp. 103-104).
Yatskan’s strong talents correctly told him that the path for a newspaper for Jews is to subordinate the “pocket” to the higher interests of the people and not the other way around. Profits should not decide what a Jewish newspaper should write and how it should be written. He had a good understanding for what the Jewish reader was looking for, and brought “Haynt” into countless Jewish homes in the Russian Empire, wherever there was a Jewish community.
In its first months, Haynt did not demonstrate a tendency to be on the increase with every issue, as had been the case with Yidishes Tageblat. Yatskan then introduced an innovation that radically transformed the situation. According to the archetypical world press, he was publishing serial novels, stretched-out stories under provocative titles that promised more than the stories delivered. The readers swallowed up the stories; women wept at the heroes’ bitter misfortunes. Sometimes it was the lady of leisure with the golden youth; sometimes “white slaves” and the traders with their living commodity. To attract readers, before beginning each new nove, he published an excerpt of the first chapter in a flyer, hundreds of thousands of copies of which were distributed for free in the streets. This was also quite a feat at the time. After the first novel came a second and a third—all under screaming headlines. The circulation indeed began to grow.
The author of the novels was A.L. Yakubovitch (1880-1964), who wrote them under the pseudonym L. Shrayber. The reader will find more details about the novels and their author in Chapter 9.
p.30
Very rapidly, Haynt reached a circulation of 100,000 copies per day, but the actual number of readers was much greater. It was estimated by the editorial staff that for each copy sold there were 2, 3, and often 4 readers, who could not by themselves afford to spend 4 groszy (2 kopeks), and read the paper in concert.
The newspaper was full of advertising. Particularly on Fridays and the eves of (Jewish) holidays, when the staff argued that the advertisements took away much-needed space from the news, Yatskan would say that it makes no difference, since advertisements also make good reading material, and people actually buy the paper because they want to read the ads. It is noteworthy that the notion that advertisements are in and of themselves important reading material is currently promulgated by the American advertising industry. Yatskan understood this over 60 years ago.
The circulation grew steadily. The editors said that on the day World War I broke out in 1914, Haynt printed 150,000 copies—but nearly all of them stayed on the train.
Yatskan’s “empire” ended on January 1, 1920, when Haynt—at that time the newspaper was called “Nayes fun Haynt” (Today’s News) merged with the Zionist organ “Dos Yidishe Folk” (The Jewish People) (see Chapter 7). Haynt became a national press organ, but the newspaper’s “shepherd” no longer had any connection to it.
Yatskan gradually stopped coming to the paper. Rumor had it that he was leaving for America. He left in March, 1920. About a year later, he came back as a sales representative for Manischewitz Matzoh. Until that time, this American-style food was unknown in Poland, and when Yatskan presented each staff member with two boxes of it for Passover, it was a real treat for them. Yatskan was not particularly successful in his efforts to sell the matzos, and he transferred the representation to the “E.V.I.G.” Company owned by the Nimtsovitsch brothers, who were cousins to the Finkelsteins.
After his return, Yatskan published a series of articles in Haynt about his impressions of America, and used to recount amazing stories of the “Golden Land” to the editorial staff, telling them of novel quirks in the American mentality. For example, Av. Kahan, the editor of Forverts in New York, once took him to a party and introduced him to the guests as the famous editor of a large European newspaper. Yatskan
p.31
told the gathering that Haynt printed 50,000 copies daily, which, at that period in the paper’s history, was a respectable number. Kahan then joked that Yatskan was a “greener”, who didn’t yet know how things were done in America, where they were accustomed to exaggerate, particularly in the press. If one said that a paper had a circulation of 50,000 copies, it would automatically be assumed that probably not more than 20,000 were actually printed. If you want to tell people that your circulation is 50,000, you had to tell them that you printed 100,000 copies!
It wasn’t part of Yatskan’s nature to sit with idle hands. Haynt no longer fulfilled him, so he sought new undertakings, starting projects with new publications. He soon developed a plan to expand Haynt beyond the borders of Poland. Calculating that thousands of Russian-Jewish intelligentsia were displaced to Western Europe by the Bolshevik Revolution while at the same time, a large and steadily growing number of Jews, fleeing the Boycott, unemployment, and pogroms were also resettling there. Aside from a few small weeklies, there was not any Yiddish press in Western Europe. Yatskan reckoned that a quality Yiddish-language daily in Paris, the very center of Western Europe, should be able to find a sufficient readership to sustain itself. As far as staffing was concerned, Yatskan figured that aside from one or two professional journalists-- whom he would have to import-- among the newly arrived migrants, particularly among the well-educated youth, he should be able to find a sufficient number of interested people to work at the paper for minimal compensation. In general, he planned to reduce his expenses to a minimum by filling the paper with material – articles and news – that would be sent to him daily from Haynt in Warsaw.
The newspaper was called “Parizer Haynt”. The first issue appeared on January 23, 1926. In format, the paper resembled the Warsaw Haynt. The format was the same. The masthead was a copy of the prototype used in Warsaw, and there was not any major difference in content, either, since much of the material was regularly sent from Warsaw. The editor was Vladimir Grosman, who had worked at Haynt prior to the First World War (See Chapter 10). Another
p.32
co-worker from the Warsaw Haynt was “Isidore Lazar” (See Chapter 9.). The rest of the staff were, as Yatskan had planned, young writers with little experience, who had perhaps sporadically published a short story or sent correspondence from Paris to a Yiddish paper somewhere in the world at some point. Not one of them was actually making a living! Some were students, like Yitzchok Khomsky (today a doctor in New York 1903 - ?); Nissan Frank, an actor, theater critic, and supplier of theatrical equipment (1889-1943); Nokhum Herman (1889-1944); Meyr-Yehoshua Nirenberger (correspondent in Brussels; today in Canada 1911--?); the talented author Volf Vieviorke (1896-1945); and Binyomin Goldberg (more about him follows).
Noyakh Finkelstein, who was a partner with Yatskan in producing “Parizer Haynt”, occupied himself very little with the business. Indeed, disorganization and lack of oversight, as we shall see, led the paper to financial disaster. Just as he carried on at the offices of the Warsaw Haynt, Finkelstein would also loaf in Paris at the editorial office: smoking expensive cigarettes from a costly, gold-decorated, amber cigarette holder, eagerly listening to the rumors that found their way into the office. He himself would share whatever he might have heard in the Paris cafes where he was a regular. As far as business was concerned, he relied on the newspaper’s administrator.
It came as a complete shock to Yatskan when it came to light that “Parizer Haynt” was a flop. His blaring front-page editorials-- once widely popular with his readers of “Yidishes Tageblatt” and later Haynt -- didn’t help, nor did sensationalist stories about extraordinary events purported to be happening in Paris, such as ”Naked Woman Stands on Paris Rooftop with All Paris Watching”. The circulation stayed small, and did not grow.
To mark the 100th issue, a banquet with wine and champagne was held. Everyone was congratulating each other- but that was only on the surface. The real atmosphere was more like a funeral than a celebration—it was understood that the paper would not continue for much longer.
p.33
What saved “Parizer Haynt” was the assassination in Paris of ataman Semyon Petlyura by Sholem Shvartsbart on May 25, 1926 as an act of vengeance for the slaughter perpetrated by Petlyura’s henchmen on the Jewish communities of Ukraine in the civil war following the Bolshevik Revolution. Naturally, “Parizer Haynt” wrote pages and pages on the incident. Circulation started to grow and the paper got on its feet financially. Gradually, it reached 20,000 copies daily, considerably more than other Yiddish publications in Western Europe. On top of that, the success of “Parizer Haynt” was the catalyst for the establishment at various times, of other Yiddish papers in Paris. Noyakh Prilutski came from Warsaw and founded “Der Tog” (The Day); Zalman Shniur published “Parizer Morgenblat” (Paris Morning Paper), etc. None of the competing newspapers lasted very long; all of them closed. Yatskan brought in Aharon Alperin, the Lodz correspondent from Haynt in Warsaw, to edit “Parizer Haynt”, whose final issue was published on June 10, 1940—two days before the Nazis entered Paris.
When the war broke out, the government was looking for military censors with fluency in foreign languages. Yitzkhok Khomski’s brother Boris (Borukh) Khomski, who had graduated from the Yiddish Teachers’ Seminary in Warsaw before coming to France, was mobilized into the army. In his papers, he admitted knowing Yiddish and Hebrew. He was taken out of active duty, and appointed as a military censor. He was the censor of “Parizer Haynt”. On the day before the evacuation from Paris, he warned the editorial staff about the impending events. The paper would be able to put out, at the most, only two more issues. He was evacuated to Africa alone, and spent the entire war in a military camp in Casablanca. After the war, Boris Khomski became active in Paris’s metal industry, and traded with China and other countries.
“Parizer Haynt” was Zionist throughout, as was Haynt in Warsaw. A number of staff members, such as Khomski, Kremer, and others, belonged to the “Poalei-Tzion-Hitachdut” and supported their party in the paper.
The connection with the non-Jewish world in France was very weak. The leader of Poalei Zion in France, Mark Yarblum (1887-1973), a French figure in Western-European Jewish life in the interwar period, consistent with his multifaceted Jewish activism,
p.34
actively took part in the work of the French Socialist Party. From time to time, Yarblum sent articles to Haynt in Warsaw, as well as to “Parizer Haynt”. Yarblum belonged to the intimate circle of associates that included Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion, and other important Zionist personalities. He was a close friend of Leon Blum, head of the Socialist Party in France, and later three-time Prime Minister (twice before WWII). Yarblum converted Leon Blum to Zionism.
“Parizer Haynt” attempted to continue, on Parisian soil, the tradition of social responsibility of Haynt in Warsaw (See Chapter 17). To a large extent, the paper indeed could attribute its popularity to its philanthropic and communal endeavors on behalf of the emigrants, to whom it gave initiative, and whom it supported in articles, coverage, and news. These were simple, working Jews, now foreigners in Paris, foreign to the lifestyle and customs of the neighbors around them. Many were in the country illegally, having come on transit visas or without any visas at all. None could obtain the right to work. Their situation was tragic. One was satisfied to survive the day with a cup of coffee and a “croissant”, a type of roll in the shape of a half-moon, which is the typical Parisian breakfast, for a few sous (centimes). If the “Patron” (owner of a café) wasn’t paying attention, one could quickly down more than one croissant. One emigrant would tell another at which bistro one could get away with it! But even a few centimes was not something one had in one’s pocket every day…
It was said that the first year they worked for the police, the second for the families, and the third year, when they had succeeded in saving a little pocket money, they and their wives and children struggled for days and weeks – not eating enough, living in horrible conditions, and finally managing to scramble together a few franks, one by one—in order to travel further on in the world looking for “the lucky break”.
The small-scale manufacture of ladies’ purses became their foremost occupation. A board was placed on a bed, and on this “work table” a few pieces of leather were cut, a few purses were sewn together, and taken out to be sold in the Paris marketplace. Because police harassment made them have to bribe their way out of trouble, they were said to spend their first year working for the police. They couldn’t sell much that first year, and whatever they did make went for bribes.
p.35
“Parizer Haynt” organized the immigrants in “Landsmanschaften” (self-help organizations of people from the same home communities), and later created a federation of Landsmanschaften. The paper opened soup kitchens offering modest hot meals for free, and founded schools and free summer-camps for children. The Club for Free Discussions became a spirited cultural center immediately upon its opening. All of this connected the emigrants with the newspaper and with the philanthropists and cultural activists from the Jewish-Russian emigration, among whom “Parizer Haynt” found moral support, as well as interest with the paper’s community programs, and who helped with work and with money.
But, as noted, the financial situation of “Parizer Haynt” was dismal, and its very existence was in peril. The administrator of the paper was Yitzkhok Grodzenski, the husband of Yatskan’s niece, Meri Kremer, who had done administrative work at Haynt in Warsaw when she was still single, before she came to Paris. (Her brother, Benyomin Kremer, was a proofreader at Haynt; see Chapter 14.) Grodzenski had been a milliner in Paris when Yatskan elevated him to the chief of “Parizer Haynt”.
Not becoming personally involved with the daily management of the publishing house, Noah Finkelstein generally had only a vague idea of what was going on in the business. Grodzenski took advantage of this, and in partnership with the printer who printed the paper, Osip Zelyuk, began speculating in the stock market, using up the paper’s money! When news of this reached Yatskan, he immediately went to the administrative office and screamed to Grodzenski: “Open up the safe!” But all he found was a bundle of uncovered accounts.
Finally, “Parizer Haynt” went bankrupt. Lawyers took over the publishing house and paid both partners a nominal weekly allowance. From the income they received from the “Alt-Nay” (Old-New) Cooperative (see Chapter 19), they had to support their families in Warsaw. In Paris, they themselves lived in poverty.
Three years later Yatskan once again began thinking about a new daily newspaper, but this time in Warsaw. He decided to hit the Polish newspaper market with a popular paper, a “Tabloid” that would cost less than the other newspapers in Poland, and with little political material, but full of criminal news and various light material: romantic novels, stories, and contests with prizes.
p.36
Yatskan said that he wanted to win the Polish masses, to draw them away from the Anti-Semitic press. The idea behind this project was to free the gullible Polish reader from the influence of anti-Semitic toxicity. He wanted to create a popular newspaper on the standard of the Polish masses- the factory worker, the janitor or cleaning girl, among whom were recruited most of those who attacked Jews—a paper without Jew-baiting, simple enough for them to comprehend, but interesting enough that they would want to cross over to it from the other papers that they had been reading up until then.
Today, it might look as if his intentions were naïve. But one must admit that Yatskan knew what he wanted and understood how to realize his project. The paper, which began in 1929 with the title “Ostatnie Wiadomosci” (The Latest News), within a short time had a circulation of over 150,000 copies, and was a genuine competitor in the Polish press. It must be borne in mind that in general, the circulation of Polish newspapers was smaller than that, except for one paper in Krakow and one or two in Warsaw.
But the “Reformer of the Yiddish Press”, the noteworthy publisher which Yatskan had been in Warsaw and Paris, never enjoyed his successes for very long. He himself had no grasp of finances or commerce, and Noah Finkelstein, his partner, was not a practical man either. He needed to keep an eye on the business, but he did not take this responsibility seriously. One after another, the papers slipped out of their hands: First Haynt (See Chapters 7 and 19); and then “Parizer Haynt”; and later “Ostatnie Wiadomosci”. They had in fact purchased expensive printing presses on credit in Germany for the Polish newspaper, but the authorities would not allow them to be set up where the old ones were, because the foundation was too weak. The paper had to be sold off to pay the debts. It was purchased by Alexander Grinberg, one of the publishers of the “Groshen-Bibliotek” (the Penny Library) (See Chapter 19.)
Yatskan never felt quite comfortable outside the walls of Haynt. His demeanor bespoke the background of a poor yeshiva boy who couldn’t quite free himself from the small provincial towns of Lithuania. Yatskan was a cold person, without feelings. He was frequently cross, unfriendly, embittered, and melancholy. He didn’t really
p.37
blend in with the Polish-Jewish society of Warsaw, and remained a foreigner in Poland’s capital city. He demonstrated little understanding of the Poles, their history, their nationalistic aspirations, or their struggle for independence. He was paid back in kind from the Polish side: as far as they were concerned, he was a “Litvak” foreign to all things Polish.
Yatskan did not have an auspicious family life. His wife was deathly ill, and he really didn’t have a home. Working, writing, editing, planning—that was his life. He was justifiably proud of his achievements, and he wanted everyone to know about them. He paid great attention to his appearance; on his always freshly-shaven face he wore a heavy moustache. It would be trimmed or not, according to the fashion popularized in Western Europe by the famous French statesman Georges Clemenceau (these days that kind of moustache is popular among the radical youth and the Maoists). He clothed himself from the elegant “Biernatzki Brothers” store in the Bristol Hotel, and bought only the top of the line. The firm was Jewish-owned and belonged to two brothers; Yatskan was one of their preeminent customers. Yatskan loved to come into the publishing office wearing a new suit of English wool, made according to the latest fashion, and a very “special” necktie. It was well-known that he was waiting for compliments… not knowing that despite the expensive prices he paid, everything drooped from his scrawny frame.
Yatskan was literate in several languages. He devoured the European press in search of material for his paper. His pockets were always full of clippings, and it was rare to see him without a bunch of newspapers. He said that he could speak various language. In fact, it was difficult to understand him in any language. Whether he was speaking Russian, Polish, German, French, or English, it always sounded like Yiddish—replete with the sibilant quirks of his regional Lithuanian dialect.
In the Haynt Jubilee Book of 1908-1928 to celebrate the first 20 years of the newspaper, Dr. Yehoshua Gotlieb wrote an pithy characterization of the paper’s creator:
“In the evaluation of Yatskan’s personality, there is no greater frustration than the charge that Yatskan assumed his supercilious tone in order to have the effect of an agitator or a demagogue. This accusation… comes, in all likelihood, from the fact that they (the critics) saw in Yatskan
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a competitor, who regularly demonstrated that he was able to control the sentiments of the general populace with more talent than they… perhaps he was wrong many times, but he always believed that he was in the right and that his wrath was a “holy wrath”. He always felt that he was, collectively with all Jews, in a state of siege, and he unceasingly switched from defense to offense and from offense to defense… The …Yatskan tone… had a special magic. He was heard, and he got carried away… and the reader followed him. Not one other Jewish publicist could claim that such grand, numerous masses of Jews heeded the call of his pen, as Yatskan could. He broke the authority of assimilated bankers and Hassidic rebbes over Polish Jewry. Thus he implanted in the Polish Jew concern for the individual self, for the Jewish standard of living, for Jewish aspirations and hopes. S.J. Yatskan was the first Jewish newspaperman who discovered a path to the Jewish reader, and blazed the trail for all the other journalists who came after him… he was the first, and perhaps the only one who raised newspaper work to a skill, to a profession, to an artform…”
Yatskan suffered from angina pectoris, but this serious heart condition did not keep him from being active, and he frequently traveled to “take care” of “Parizer Haynt”. On one of his trips, he died in Paris, and was buried in Warsaw’s Jewish cemetery.
translated by Lucas Bruyn
Abraham Goldberg (1933-1988) shaped Haynt into the leading press-organ of Polish Jewry over a period of many years. First, together with Yatskan (Yatskan) but also after Yatskan had left the management.
Incredible as it may seem, he was even more dedicated to Haynt than Yatskan himself. The paper was the essence of his life. He lived for the paper, gave up his health and his soul for it.
For Goldberg, work at Haynt or better, for Haynt, was not just some prosaic occupation, just a means of earning an honorable income. For him journalism was not just a profession. He believed that Haynt had a mission to carry out, that everyone working at the paper ought to consider his work as a kind of holy work.
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He himself had taken on his mission. He was strict with himself and demanded the same of his colleagues. He used to say that a Jewish journalist should remember that he was a leader of the community [sheliekh-tsiber] and that he had to guard ethics and morality. He believed that the workers of Haynt were soldiers at the frontline of the struggle for a better Jewish life, that their work was like a national service [avoyde] towards the will of the people. He believed that Haynt had to open the eyes of its readers to the elevated duties - not only of Jewish life, but of life of all mankind in general. It had to wake up the world, to give it hope.
During the discussions among the editorial staff, on what line to take in relation with the problems of the day, Goldberg always put emphasis on the position Haynt had reached in Jewish society. He would say that the workers should stick to the highest ethical standards.
That was how Goldberg thought about the mission of Haynt and his imagination [koyekh-hadimiyen] had infected his colleagues.
Although his thought were on high ideals, he did not forget about the daily job of publishing a quality paper. Until the last day of his life he was on the look out for new writers and he ensured that the paper got all the latest news. Being a dynamic personality, gifted with a love for work, Goldberg inspired his colleagues to give their best, to work with enthusiasm. That too was one of the things that made Haynt different from other Jewish papers.
Abraham Goldberg was involved with Haynt since the first issue. Since he was one of the founders it was he who proposed the name Haynt for the new paper. From day one he occupied important positions, even though Yatskan did not always treat him in accordance with his merits. Even after the merging with "Dos Yidishe Folk" (The Jewish People), when the paper was managed by Yizhak Gruenbaum and Yatskan was one of the publishers, Yatskan did not acknowledge that Goldberg actually was the editor in chief. He was of the opinion that the title 'secretary of the editorial board' was good enough.
When Yatskan heard that Goldberg was far from happy about this, he asked with some sarcasm: "What's this? It doesn't suit him? Stalin is happy to be the Secretary of the Communist party and for Goldberg the title 'secretary of the editorial board' is not good enough?"
Abraham Goldberg got the title redactor in chief only after the workers founded the Alt-Nay (Old-New) Cooperative and took over the business.
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Abraham Goldberg knew how to edit a daily newspaper. He had both energy and scope with a limitless supply of initiative. Banality at work, negligence and laxness were foreign to his nature. He had a sense for political events and knew how to take advantage of them in the newspaper. On those days, when there were no major news items, he was restless and searched for ways to portray the special importance of events in the newspaper. He hated the routine.
Haynt supported Yizhak Gruenbaum's Zionist activities and his general politics but Abraham Goldberg was not satisfied with that alone. He personally participated in political and communal activities. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Zionist Organization in Poland and was an initiator of the "Rescue Committee" in Warsaw and the "Education and Culture Union" (more regarding these two organizations in Chapter 17.)
During the Polish Parliamentary elections of 1922, Goldberg was one of the main proponents of the Minorities Bloc. He wrote articles, toured the province agitating, and giving speeches. During the passionate debate regarding Haim Weitzman's plan to enlarge the Jewish Agency for the Land of Israel, the Zionist Organization in Poland split into two factions: the "Al HaMishmar" and the "Eyt L'Vnot." Goldberg joined the radical "Al HaMishmar" faction and together with Gruenbaum fought against enlarging the Agency. However, he safeguarded Haynt as a tribune for the entire Zionist Movement and the newspaper printed articles from the adherents and opponents of Weitzman's plan.
Abraham Goldberg was not fated to enjoy the recognition and honors conferred upon him. His private life was a long chain of trials and tribulation. He believed his life was one of divine chastisement and he had many reasons to complain about his lot.
Goldberg was married at age 21. His wife gave him two sons and one daughter. But the couple did not enjoy domestic harmony and divorced. His second wife, Eva Glass, a daughter of a prominent Warsaw family created a warm home for him. Nevertheless, Goldberg had two brothers that he always missed. The poet, Menachem
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Boreisha, (1888- 1949) who left for America in 1914 and Leyb Goldberg (1892-1955) who wrote for "Emes", "Eynikeyt", and other Soviet newpapers in Moscow. His children also provided him with no joy.
The older son, Benyomin (1905-1952), was a Communist. He lived in Paris for several years. Later he wrote for the Communist Press in Poland under the pseudonym Jerzy Boreisha which was his father's mother's surname. Benyomin did not demonstrate any respect towards his father. The Literary Club, at Tlomacki 13, once sponsored a evening discussion on the role and mission of the Yiddish Press. At that event Abraham Goldberg participated. During the discussion, Benyomin attacked the Yiddish newspapers calling them the "Yellow Press." There was a furor, the famous columnist Shaul Stupenicki called out, "Why are you attacking the Yiddish press? Isn't your father also an editor of a "Yellow" newspaper?" Benyomin responded, "Is it my fault that the stork dropped me off at Abraham Goldberg's house?" The attendees viewing the scene were shocked when they saw Goldberg's face turn deathly pale and anguished.
The Polish political police (Defensive) arrested Benyomin for his Communist activities. His sister Julia tried to intervene in order to save the brother from arrest. She took the trolley but being too impatient to wait for the trolley to stop at the station; she jumped out while the trolley was moving at full speed and was caught under the trolley's wheels and lost both legs. The beautiful girl was barely 19 years old. Several years after Abraham Goldberg passed away, the Alt-Nay Cooperative employed her in its administrative offices. She and her stepmother both died in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Benyomin Boreisha survived the War and in Communist Poland became the head of the government publishing house "Ksiazka." He died under suspicious circumstances.
Goldberg's second son, Yosef, was a lawyer. Due to his poor health he could not work regularly. He would occasionally do some technical work at the paper for a couple of hours a day. After the War, he was transformed into Colonel Juzek Ruzanski (his mother's surname) and is sadly
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remembered as an officer in the political police (Urzad Bezpieczenstwo Publiczny the terror evoking department for public security which was known as "Bezpieko"or by the Polish initials "U.B."). When Wladyslaw Gomulka was arrested in 1949 for "nationalist deviation," it was Yosef Goldberg who was the arresting officer. In 1956 Gomulka came to power in Poland and Goldberg received a five year sentence for police brutality.
Abraham Goldberg was a handsome man: tall, broad shouldered, with a forelock of black hair and eyes that shown out past thick eyebrows. Attention was drawn to him wherever he appeared. He was never ill. Suddenly, he started to complain of about aches and pains in his bones. The doctors couldn't help. His illness was not properly diagnosed and was ineptly treated. Though sick, he would come to the office, to write articles and edit the newspaper. When he had a severe attack at work he would clasp his head with his hands and moan silently.
Eventually, Goldberg could no longer come to work. When his colleagues would visit him, he would stifle his pains and imagine out loud how he would improve the paper when he got better.
The second veteran who also stood at Haynt’s cradle was Aaron Gavze (initially he spelled his name with an אּ (alef) at the end but later changed the spelling to an ﬠ (ayin).) He had a traditional Jewish education, studied in Yeshivas, considered becoming a Rabbi and ended up at the desk of Haynt. His work at the editorial office was anonymous. He performed daily technical functions which would become a full day's work for three people in the latter period when Haynt’s editorial offices grew to become the biggest of all Yiddish editorial offices in Europe.
Gavze was night editor, proofreader, editor of the Warsaw local news and if ever needed, he would write about various gatherings and assemblies. In the role as the editor of the Warsaw local news, he raised a generation of young reporters, a profession which prior to World War I was not frequent among Jews. As previously remarked
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above, Yiddish newspapers at that time did not print local news and there was no need for reporters.
Pleasant, quiet, and friendly, Aaron was always ready to help his younger colleagues. He called them "tsutsikes" (puppies). He was a good natured uncle, undeniably an uncle not a father, he never punished, he never said a harsh word. Always excusing, smoothing over, searching for the best in others. He was a family man, ran a fine Jewish home, and gave his children a proper upbringing. He looked like a true Pole with a thin upturned moustache. He could easily have been mistaken for a Polish nobleman.
After the World War I, America was in short supply of Jewish religious articles and Torah scrolls in particular. Aaron Gavze came up with the idea to buy Torah scrolls in Poland and take them to America where the prices were very high and he was paid in dollars. He left Haynt and bought a large number of Torah scrolls and religious articles and made several trips to the States. He was very fortunate and earned a great deal. With his earnings, he bought textiles and together with his brother opened a textile wholesale store on Gesia Street - the center of the textile trade in Warsaw. His store was one of the largest; it occupied an entire story of a building, employed a large number of workers and in a word he became a big businessman.
But his luck did not last long, the Grabski's reforms were enacted which included currency devaluation, high taxes accompanied with a strict anti-Jewish economic liquidation policy (see Chapter 4) and the Gavze empire burst like a soap bubble. He had to sell the business and return to work at the Haynt. He became the manager of the print shop - a position especially created for him. During the Nazi occupation, Aaron Gavze was active in organizing help for the 160 writers and their families in the Warsaw Ghetto. At the time of the mass expulsion during the Summer of 1942, he committed suicide by taking cyanide at the Umschlags-platz and died at the age of 66.
Noah and Nehemiah Finkelstein were the two people who created for Shmuel Yaakov Yatskan the financial and organizational base for the revolution that he stimulated in the Yiddish press. Noah Finkelstein (1871-1946) financed the "Yidishes Tageblat" and later
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Haynt while his younger brother Nehemiah ran the business aspects of the publishing house. They were modest people, tried to stay in the background who did not strive for fame or honor. But it is without a doubt that it was their resolute will to withstand the financial losses caused by the official harassment and fines which plagued Haynt which allowed the newspaper to achieve its position in the Jewish community. Together with Yatskan , they laid the foundation for the modern Yiddish Press and were the first Yiddish publishers who understood how to establish their newspaper on a healthy financial basis. They were pioneers in modern Yiddish publishing just as Yatskan was a pioneer in modern Yiddish editing.
The Brother Finkelstein did not get involved in Yiddish publishing in order to get rich. Their intention was propagate the Jewish National Idea and the Yiddish printed word among the wide masses. Of course, they tried to increase their revenue, increase their readership and did everything possible to distribute their newspaper to every Jewish community. However, the money that flowed in did not stay long in the coffers but was used to improve the paper. New employees were engaged, new correspondents were hired, new machines were brought from abroad but most importantly great Yiddish writers were attracted by the payment of respectable compensation.
Formally, Haynt was a partnership between S. J. Yatskan and Noah Finkelstein. Nehemiah was the manager not a partner, a fact which was not commonly known. Noah remained aloof and was involved in Zionist activities. Incidentally, he spent many years abroad in Switzerland, France, mainly in Paris and in Nice (South of France.) He rarely visited the editorial offices, when he did it was just to chat and catch up with the news. The entire running of the business rested on Nehemiah's shoulders.
The Finkelsteins came from an old Jewish family from Brisk. They were among the most respected people in the city. They traced their lineage to the Sefardic sage Abarbanel and were related to the finest families in Russia and Poland, true Jewish aristocrats and representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia. In the Haynt Jubilee Book of 1908-1938, Moshe Indelman printed an article about the Finkelstein Brothers in which he stated, "If Haynt would now still be under the Finkelstein Brothers management,
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the Finkelsteins' would, as a matter of course, not have allowed these lines to see the light of day just as they would not have allowed them to be written in their newspaper decades ago. But as of June 1932 Haynt is produced by a workers cooperative… therefore now at the thirtieth anniversary of their work we are writing a few words of recognition to correct the on-going injustice, which started years ago, to two veterans of the Yiddish Press and cut through the silence with regard to their achievements."
A. Goldberg printed in the Haynt Jubilee Book of 1908-1928 a warm portrayal of Noah Finkelstein with whom he shared common roots in the City of Brisk. But he knew the other side of Noah Finkelstein as well. He used to say that with Noah you never know how things will end up. His nature was at times to blurt out sharp remarks which were inconsistent with his gentlemanly deportment. Goldberg described Noah Finkelstein as a Russian samovar, a person who was innately good natured but could not control himself. He would often do favors for people but at other times would get angry without apparent cause and when he would calm down, he wouldn't remember why he had gotten angry.
Both brothers kept their distance in their relationship to the personnel; however, they acted informally with the publishing house's technical staff and referred to them as their "people." They used the familiar "du" (you) form and called them by their first name. The staff respected the Finkelsteins but no one ever became an intimate. Even those with whom they built Haynt knew very little about the brother's personal lives. Very little was also known about how the publishers got along with each other. Yatskan ruled the editorial offices and the Finkelsteins and Nehemiah, in particular, ran the business. Yatskan did not get involved in how the business ran and the Finkelsteins relied on Yatskan for editorial matters.
Noah Finkelstein was one of the first and most senior Zionists in Russia. He took part in the First Zionist Congress as a Brisk delegate and later participated in all Zionist Congresses. Another veteran Zionist, Litman Rosenthal from Bialystok, wrote in the Haynt Jubilee Book 1808-1928 (p.188) about the role Noah Finkelstein played during the stormy debates that broke out in the Zionist movement after the Sixth Congress in 1903
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in connection with the Uganda Project.
In the years prior to the First World War, Noah Finkelstein participated in wide-ranging political activities within Warsaw Jewish Nationalist circles. During the election for the Fourth Duma, Haynt supported the Jewish national electoral bloc (see Chapter 2.) Noah Finkelstein took part in the Committee's work and contributed financially to the election campaign.
Nehemiah Finkelstein was one of the most talented Jewish communal workers in Warsaw. He was the financier, treasurer, or management committee member of many institutions. It was said about him that he, himself, was an institution. He was one of the most important education oriented communal workers and was in the circle of Y.L. Peretz and Yaakov Dineson and with whom he was very close friends. He was Shalom Aleichem's and Shalom Asch's business representative. Asch used to keep, in Nehemiah's home, the antiques he bought during his trips to Poland after WWI.
Nehemiah Finkelstein was also a financial trustee for many cultural institutions and even for private individuals who entrusted him with dowries, pledges, and inheritances. People would come to his home to discuss the communal affairs with which he was involved. In the prosperous years, both brothers would open their wallets to writers but no one ever acknowledged the help that was received.
Nehemiah Finkelstein was a founder of the Warsaw musical society "HaZemir" and was himself a music lover (see Chapter 17.) The brothers looked like twins. Both used to be blond but became entirely bald during their youth. They were exceptionally well mannered, were polite and always had a friendly smile. Both spoke very little. Nehemiah, constantly with a burnt out cigar in his mouth, was perhaps a bit more sociable. Noah was more formal and guarded and was known for his stubbornness.
Nehemiah Finkelstein was very active in the Warsaw Ghetto. He published work in the "Taz" the society which looked after the sick and helped orphans and children. He and his family died in the Ghetto.
Noah Finkelstein survived the War in Nice. He was
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in great need after the War and managed to stay alive with the help of friends who sent him money and food packages. In his letters he was thankful that he wasn't forgotten and complained about depression, loneliness, and a solitary purposeless existence.
In the second edition of the Yiddish edition of the "Diaspora Encyclopedia," Yizhak Gruenbaum printed his reminiscences about Noah Finkelstein with whom he was on friendly terms, since the First Zionist Congress. In his conclusion, he writes (pp.319-322), "When I arrived in Paris at he end of August 1947, I found out that Noah Finkelstein was alive, that he was terminally ill and living in Nice with a relative. The doctors said that he had cancer and that his days were numbered. He, however, did not know his true condition. It didn't take too long and I received a friendly and precisely worded modest letter which said little yet conveyed his suffering. I did whatever I was able to do in order to help him. I wanted him to know that he wasn't forgotten by those who knew him and appreciated his work as well as he shouldn't feel abandoned.
One day I was informed that he had arrived in Paris, his health improved and believing his health would be restored and that he would begin working again. I searched him out right away and found him lying in bed. He appeared the same old Finkelstein with his good natured smile, his faith and strong will. He was certain that the illness for which his doctor prescribed rest would quickly pass and he would return to his work. And what was to be the object of his renewed efforts, the production of new "Haynt."
Leaving his room I spoke with his sister-in-law, a Frenchwoman, who converted to Judaism and who had left with his younger brother (Alexander) for Warsaw and there experienced, together with her husband and family, all the Nazi torments; only being French saved her from the concentration camp's gas chamber. She told me that the operation that was performed in Nice was a success but it was determined without a doubt that he had cancer and his days were numbered. It didn't take long and I received the tragic news about his passing."
Even during his wealthy period when his Haynt was the number one newspaper both in circulation and influence, Noah Finkelstein acted with humility.
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He didn't have any of the nouveau riche audacious striving for social distinction … a classical Jewish gentleman, one which the age of Zionism and the national awakening drew from the hidden corners to the various fields of broad communal service. These were people who treated their weekly secular activities as holy events. Peretz gave these people the exalted and appropriate title of “Shabes Yontifdike Yidn”, or Sabbath Hallowed Jews. Noah Finkelstein was one of these.